Frequency based age determination

ABSTRACT

Human ability to perceive higher audio frequencies diminishes with age. Functionality can be implemented to use a combination of audio tones with varying frequencies to identify an age range to which a user belongs and accordingly control access to age dependent access controlled information and services. The user&#39;s ability to perceive one or more audio tones in the combination of audio tones depends on the user&#39;s age. Thus, different users, depending on the users&#39; age, may perceive the same combination of audio tones differently. Such an age verification system based on human perception of audio tones can minimize the need for identification cards and a reliance on the user providing accurate age information. This can prevent the user from misinterpreting his/her age to access the age dependent access controlled information and can ensure that only an authorized user gets access to the age dependent access controlled information.

BACKGROUND

Embodiments of the inventive subject matter generally relate to thefield of electronic age approximation, and more particularly, tofrequency based age determination.

Human ability to perceive higher audio frequencies diminishes with age.For example, only very young children may hear audio frequencies closeto the human auditory upper limit (20 KHz). A reasonable estimate of aperson's age can be determined based on the person's ability to perceiveaudio tones at different frequencies.

SUMMARY

Embodiments include a method that detects a request to access an agedependent access controlled resource hosted by at least one server.Access to the age dependent access controlled resource is limited tousers within a predetermined age range. A set of one or more audio tonesis presented on a device, wherein human ability to perceive each of theset of one or more audio tones is age dependent. It is determined thatat least a first of the set of one or more audio tones could not beperceived. The first audio tone corresponds to the predetermined agerange. The request to access the age dependent access controlledresource hosted by the at least one server is denied based on thedetermination that at least a first of the set of one or more audiotones could not be perceived.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present embodiments may be better understood, and numerous objects,features, and advantages made apparent to those skilled in the art byreferencing the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is an example conceptual diagram illustrating electronic ageverification based on a perception of audio tones.

FIG. 2 is a flow diagram illustrating example operations for generatingan audio tone based challenge for electronic age verification.

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram illustrating example operations for controllingaccess to an age dependent access controlled website based on electronicage verification.

FIG. 4 is an example computer system configured to control access to agedependent access controlled information based on electronic ageverification.

FIG. 5 is an example block diagram depicting a system configured forelectronic age verification based on audio tone perception.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENT(S)

The description that follows includes exemplary systems, methods,techniques, instruction sequences, and computer program products thatembody techniques of the present inventive subject matter. However, itis understood that the described embodiments may be practiced withoutthese specific details. For instance, although examples refer togranting access to an age restricted web application such as a websiteand a chat room, techniques for electronic age verification as describedbelow can be implemented in mobile phone based applications and mobilephone and landline phone based voice communication. Techniques fordetermining a range of a user's age and accordingly blocking or grantingaccess to resources as described below may also be implemented inhandheld devices (e.g., at a liquor store). In other instances,well-known instruction instances, protocols, structures, and techniqueshave not been shown in detail in order not to obfuscate the description.

Age verification systems based on human perception of audio frequenciescan be used to control access to applications and services with agedependent access controlled information. The age verification systemscan use a combination of audio tones to identify an age range to which auser belongs. The user's ability to perceive one more audio tones in thecombination of audio tones depends on the user's age. Thus, differentusers, depending on the users' age, may perceive the same combination ofaudio tones differently. The audible (or non-audible) audio tones can bemapped to a visual image that can help identify the user's approximateage. Such an age verification system based on human perception of audiotones can minimize the need for identification cards, which can beeasily forged. An age verification system that does not rely on a userproviding accurate information can prevent a user from misinterpretinghis/her age to access the age dependent access controlled information.This can ensure that only an authorized user gets access to the agedependent access controlled information.

FIG. 1 is an example conceptual diagram illustrating electronic ageverification based on a perception of audio tones. FIG. 1 depicts an ageverification unit 102 in communication with a tone database 104 and ablocked user database 106.

At stage A, the age verification unit 102 receives a request to accessan age dependent access controlled resource. In FIG. 1, the agedependent access controlled resource is a chat room for children underthe age of eighteen. The age verification unit 102 may receive a requestvia the Internet and a user's personal computer 108 or a mobile phone.In some implementations, the age verification unit 102 may intercept allinitial communications (e.g., login requests) to the chat room and blockaccess until the age verification unit 102 verifies the user's age.

At stage B, the age verification unit 102 accesses the tone database 104and retrieves one or more audio tones of varying frequencies. The tonedatabase 104 may comprise audio files, each audio file comprising anaudio tone at a pre-defined frequency. The tone database 104 may alsoimplement functionality to randomly generate a set of audio tones onrequest. The age verification unit 102 may retrieve a random set ofaudio tones irrespective of the age restrictions on the age dependentaccess controlled chat room. Alternately, the age verification unit 102may retrieve audio tones based on the age restrictions to determine theuser's age and to determine whether the user's age falls within anacceptable age range specified by the age dependent access controlledchat room. For example, the age verification unit 102 may select a setof four audio tones (from the tone database 104)—one for each age groupand determine a lower limit on the user's age based on the user'sperception of the selected audio tones. As another example, instead ofdetermining the user's approximate age, the age verification unit 102may determine an approximate age range or threshold (e.g., whether theuser is below the age of eighteen). Therefore, the age verification unit102 may select and present a larger number of high frequency audiotones. In FIG. 1, the age verification unit 102 selects five audio tones114, 115, 116, 117, and 118 from the tone database 104, three of whichcan be heard only by children below the age of eighteen (tones 114, 116,and 118).

At stage C, the age verification unit 102 transmits a challenge with theset of retrieved audio tones 114-118. The age verification unit 102 maypresent the challenge on an age verification console 110. The ageverification unit 102 concatenates the five audio tones 114, 115, 116,117, and 118, and generates a single audio file. The age verificationunit 102 may direct a web browser or age verification plug-in on theclient 108 to present the audio file on the age verification console110. The age verification unit 102 also presents, on the ageverification console 110, a message indicating that the user shouldclick on a button 122 when the user perceives a different audio tone. Insome implementations, the age verification unit 102 may present theaudio tones in an increasing order of audio frequency. For example, theage verification unit 102 may first present an audio tone with a lowfrequency and present subsequent audio tones with progressivelyincreasing audio frequencies. In another implementation, the ageverification unit 102 may present the audio tones in a varying order asillustrated in FIG. 1 (tones 114-118).

At stage D, the age verification unit receives the user's response tothe challenge (“challenge response 120”) presented at stage C. Thechallenge response 120 indicates the user's perception of one or more ofthe presented set of audio tones. When the user perceives a new audiotone, the user clicks on button 122. The web browser or age verificationclient plug-in records tone information (e.g., a tone identificationnumber, tone frequency, a reference to the audio tone, etc.) associatedwith the perceived audio tone. The web browser also transmits therecorded tone information to the age verification unit 102. In someimplementations, the web browser (e.g., on the user's personal computer108 or mobile phone) may generate the challenge response 120 indicatingthe audio tones perceived by the user. As shown in FIG. 1, the challengeresponse 120 indicates that the user responded to tones 115 and 117.

In some implementations, the web browser may not have access to the toneinformation and may not be able to identify the audio tones perceived bythe user. Therefore, the web browser may indicate a time instant atwhich a mouse click (or other indication of user input) was detected.The web browser may record the time instant as an offset to the time atwhich the audio file, comprising the set of audio tones, startedplaying. The age verification unit 102 may receive the challengeresponse comprising a set of one or more time instants corresponding tothe user's perception of the audio tones. The age verification 102 maycompare the challenge response 120 with the set of audio tones presentedto the user and determine tone information associated with each of theperceived tones (e.g., tones 115 and 117). The age verification unit 102may also determine tone information for audio tones (e.g., tones 114,116, and 118) that the user could not recognize.

At stage E, the age verification unit 102 maps the perceived andnon-perceived audio tones to create a visual image and determines thatthe user is above the age of eighteen. The age verification unit 102 maydetermine that the user is above the age of eighteen because the userwas unable to hear the three audio tones 114, 116, and 118, whichchildren under the age of eighteen can perceive. Because the user wasable to perceive tones 115 and 117, the age verification unit 102determines that the user is between the age of nineteen and twenty-four.

At stage F, the age verification unit 102 blocks access to the chatroom. In addition to presenting an access denied screen 112, the ageverification unit 102 can also record the blocked user's information inthe blocked user database 106 (see stage G). User information caninclude a user login name, an internet protocol (IP) address associatedwith the chat room, a personal computer 108 serial number, etc. If theuser uses a mobile phone to access an age dependent access controlledapplication and is blocked, the age verification unit 102 may alsorecord a mobile phone number and a mobile phone serial identificationnumber in the blocked user database 106. The blocked user database 106may also store a number (e.g., in the form of a counter variable) ofconsecutive denied requests to access the age dependent accesscontrolled application.

Although FIG. 1 describes operations for controlling access to a chatroom, the operations of FIG. 1 may be implemented to control access toother age dependent access controlled resources such as onlinecommunication environments, online games, virtual worlds, geographicregions within the virtual worlds, online message forums, bulletinboards, etc. The age verification operations of FIG. 1 may also beimplemented to control access to age dependent access controlledwebsites, parts of websites with age dependent access controlledinformation, and web applications. In some implementations, a user mayimplement a local age verification unit, on an electronic device such asa laptop or a mobile phone. The user may configure age restrictions toreceive communications from other users within a specified age group.For example, a user may configure age restrictions to prevent otherusers outside a first age group from viewing the user's blog. As anotherexample, the user may set age restrictions on his/her mobile phone toprevent callers within a second age group from contacting him/her. Insome implementations, a user may configure age restrictions to controlaccess to local resources (e.g., documents, applications, images, etc.on a local machine). For example, an age verification unit on the localmachine may generate audio tones (or retrieve the audio tones from aserver) if the age verification unit detects a request to access therestricted local resource.

FIG. 2 is a flow diagram illustrating example operations for generatingan audio tone based challenge for electronic age verification. The flow200 begins at block 202.

At block 202, a user request to access an age dependent accesscontrolled website is received. The request may be in response to theuser clicking on a link to a website, clicking on a restricted sectionof the website, accessing an age dependent access controlledapplication, etc. For example, operations to verify the user's age maybe triggered when the user tries to purchase alcohol online, log into anage dependent access controlled chat room, or access a website withadult content. The flow continues at block 204.

At block 204, a set of audio tones is selected. The ability to perceiveeach tone of the set of audio tones is age dependent. For example, onlyhumans below the age of eighteen may be able to hear an audio tone at 20KHz. The set of audio tones may also be generated in response to thereceived user request. In some implementations, the set of audio tonesmay be selected at random. In other implementations, the set of audiotones may be selected based on age restrictions associated with the agedependent access controlled website, to determine whether the userbelongs to a specific age group. For example, to determine whether theuser is a minor, only audio tones heard by humans below the age ofeighteen may be selected. As another example, an online wine store maypresent more audio tones (e.g., 80% of the selected audio tones) thatare heard by minors as compared to audio tones heard by adults, to focusmainly on preventing minors from making online wine purchases. The flowcontinues at block 206.

At block 206, a challenge is presented with the set of audio tones. Theset of audio tones may be concatenated to form a single audio file. Aserver hosting the age dependent access controlled website may presentthe audio file comprising the set of audio tones on an age verificationconsole. The user may play the audio file from the server or maydownload the audio file to a client (e.g., mobile phone, laptop, etc.)and play the audio file on the client. Alternately, the server may alsotransmit the audio file to the client along with audio tone information.A web browser on the client may implement functionality to present aninterface for the age verification console. An age-verification plug-inon the client (“client plug-in”) may generate the age verificationconsole and present the audio tones after the client receives the audiotones from the server. The client plug-in may also download or generateaudio tones based on instructions from the server. For example, theserver may identify ten audio tones using ten tone identificationnumbers and direct the client plug-in to retrieve the audio tones andpresent the audio tones on the age verification console. The clientplug-in may download the audio tones from a tone database, concatenatethe audio tones to form an audio file, and present the audio file on apre-configured age verification console.

However, in some implementations, the client may not comprise anage-verification plug-in and may be oblivious to the age verificationprocess implemented on the server. The client may receive instructionsfrom the server (e.g., in a file) describing how the client shouldgenerate and present the age verification console. The client mayreceive the audio file comprising one or more audio tones and presentthe audio file in accordance with the instructions transmitted by theserver. The flow continues at block 208.

At block 208, the user is prompted to respond to the challenge(presented at block 206) by indicating a perception of each of the audiotones in the audio file. The user may indicate a perception of the audiotones by clicking on a button on the age verification console. The usermay also indicate a perception of the audio tones by touching a buttonor other graphical object on a touch screen, touching stylus to ascreen, pressing a pre-defined key on a keyboard or a keypad, speakingan indication when an audio tone is perceived, etc. Also, in someimplementations, the client plug-in or web browser may comprisefunctionality to present the challenge and prompt the user to respond tothe challenge with minimal direction from the server. In otherimplementations, the client may receive, from the server, instructionsfor presenting the challenge, prompting the user to respond to thechallenge, and transmitting the user's response to the challenge. Fromblock 208, the flow ends.

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram illustrating example operations for controllingaccess to an age dependent access controlled website based on electronicage verification. Flow 300 begins at block 302.

At block 302, a response to a challenge (e.g., the challenge presentedat block 206) is received, where the response indicates a user'sperception of a set of one or more audio tones. The user's client (e.g.,personal computer, mobile phone, etc.) may or may not implementfunctionality to identify the audio tones perceived by the user. Aclient plug-in may record tone information (e.g., tone verificationnumbers, tone frequency, a reference to the audio tone, etc.) associatedwith audio tones perceived by the user and transmit the recorded toneinformation to a server. In other implementations, the client maygenerate and transmit, to the server, an event with a time stamp everytime the user indicates a perception of the audio tones. For example,the client may transmit an “audio started” event and indicate a timeinstant at which the audio file comprising the audio tones startedplaying. The client may then transmit one or more “tone identified”events and indicate time instants at which the user indicated aperception of the audio tones. Finally, the client may transmit an “endof audio file” event.

In some implementations, the server may direct the web browser or clientplug-in to generate a tone information file (e.g., comprising toneidentification numbers, tone frequencies, the time instants, etc.)indicating, either implicitly or explicitly, the perceived audio tones.Additionally, the response to the challenge may comprise informationidentifying the user such as the user's network address, computer serialidentification number, user login name, etc. If the user accesses agedependent access controlled information via a mobile phone, a mobilephone number and a mobile phone serial identification number may also beincluded in the response to the challenge. The flow continues at block304.

At block 304, an estimated range of the user's age is determined. Theserver can use the challenge response received at block 302 to estimatethe range of the user's age. For example, the server may identify one ormore audio tones perceived by the user, based on received events andtime instants (described with reference to block 302). The server maydetermine an age range to which the user belongs, based on knowledge ofthe tone frequencies perceived by the user. For example, humans belowthe age of 49 may be able to perceive audio tones at 14 KHz, humansbelow the age of 30 may be able to perceive audio tones at 16 KHz, whileonly humans below the age of 18 may be able to perceive audio tones at20 KHz. Thus, if the user was unable to identify audio tones at 20 KHzand 16 KHz but was able to identify audio tones at 14 KHz, it may beestimated that the user's age lies between 30 and 49 years. The flowcontinues at block 306.

At block 306, it is determined whether the user's estimated age range isoutside age requirements to access the age dependent access controlledwebsite. The user's estimated age range may be used to determine whetherthe user is eligible to access the age dependent access controlledwebsite. Parts of websites, message forums, discussion boards, virtualworlds, online game sites, online businesses and stores, and other suchweb applications may also configure and enforce age restrictions. Forexample, an online forum for the elderly may want to block access topeople below the age of 50. As another example, an online game websitemay want to prevent users below the age of 25 from playing online games.As another example, access to a virtual world island may be restrictedto users between the ages of 30 and 45. If it is determined that theuser's estimated age is outside the age requirements to access the agedependent access controlled website, the flow continues at block 308.Otherwise, the flow continues at block 310.

At block 308, access to the age dependent access controlled website isgranted. In some implementations, user information may be stored in apermitted user database. For example, an IP address of the age dependentaccess controlled website and the user's login name may be stored in thepermitted user database. User access to the age dependent accesscontrolled website may be granted, without age verification, if the userlogs into the age dependent access controlled website using the storedlogin name. In other implementations, every access to the age dependentaccess controlled website may be subject to age verificationirrespective of whether the user has logged in successfully in the past.From block 308, the flow ends.

At block 310, access to the age dependent access controlled website isdenied. In some implementations, the user may be presented with a newchallenge comprising a new set of audio tones. The server may prompt theuser to respond to the new challenge by indicating a perception of thenew set of audio tones in an attempt to verify the user's age. The flowcontinues at block 312.

At block 312, information associated with the user is stored in ablocked user database. A network address of the age dependent accesscontrolled website may be stored along with user information such as alogin name and a device serial number (e.g., a mobile phone serialnumber, laptop serial number, etc). In some implementations, the blockeduser database may also comprise an indicator (e.g., a counter variable)denoting a number of consecutive denied requests to access the agedependent access controlled website. If the user exceeds an allowablenumber of consecutive denied requests, the user's account to access theage dependent access controlled website may be closed. In otherimplementations, the user may be flagged if the user exceeds theallowable number of consecutive denied requests. For example, if a childtries to purchase alcohol via a restricted alcohol website, the child'sparents may be notified. From block 312, the flow ends.

It should be noted that the flow diagrams described in FIG. 2-3 areexamples meant to aid in understanding embodiments, and should not beused to limit embodiments or limit scope of the claims. Embodiments mayperform additional operations, fewer operations, operations in adifferent order, operations in parallel, and some operationsdifferently. For example, although FIGS. 2-3 describe operations forverifying the user's age to control access to an age dependent accesscontrolled website, the operations are not restricted to websites. Insome implementations, virtual worlds, gaming networks, and mobile phonesmay implement operations for age verification. For example, a mobilephone base station or a PSTN central office may perform age verificationoperations before establishing a voice communication channel between acaller and a recipient. As another example, age verification operationsmay be performed by the recipient (e.g., before phone based transactionsare carried out) after a voice communication channel is established. Asanother example, entry into certain geographic regions of a virtualworld may be age-restricted. Avatars in the virtual world may be grantedaccess to the age-restricted geographic regions based on an accurateperception of the audio tones.

In some implementations, operations for age verification may not beperformed on a server (e.g., the server hosting an online game, avirtual world, or a web application). Instead, the operations for ageverification may be implemented on a client (e.g., a personal computer,a mobile phone, etc). For example, teenage users may configure theirinstant messaging clients to verify that unknown users who contact themare below the age of eighteen. As another example, users may configuretheir mobile phones to block voice communications and text messages fromteenagers. As another example, users may also configure their emailclients to block e-mail messages from users outside a specified agegroup.

Also, in some implementations, operations for age verification based onthe perception of audio tones may not be implemented via a network(e.g., a virtual world network, the Internet, a mobile phone network,etc). Instead, audio-based age verification may be implemented on ahandheld or stationary device. For example, an age verification deviceimplementing functionality described in accordance with FIGS. 2-3 may beinstalled by an entrance to an age-restricted area (e.g., an alcoholshop, an elevator to a conference room, an adult movie, etc). Access tothe age restricted area may be controlled based on the user's accurateperception of the audio tones. For example, the user may listen to a setof audio tones through a set of headphones and press a button toindicate perception of distinct audio tones. The elevator door orentrance to the movie may be opened, e.g., by the age verificationdevice, only after the user correctly perceives the requisite audiotones.

FIG. 4 is an example computer system configured to control access to agedependent access controlled information based on electronic ageverification. The computer system 400 includes a processor 402. Theprocessor 402 is connected to an input/output controller hub 424 (ICH),also known as a south bridge, via a bus 422 (e.g., PCI, ISA,PCI-Express, HyperTransport, etc). A memory unit 430 interfaces with theprocessor 402 and the ICH 424. The main memory unit 430 can include anysuitable random access memory (RAM), such as static RAM, dynamic RAM,synchronous dynamic RAM, extended data output RAM, etc.

The memory unit 430 comprises an age verification unit 432. The ageverification unit 432 embodies functionality to implement embodimentsdescribed in accordance with FIGS. 1-3. The age verification unit 432implements functionality to control access to age dependent accesscontrolled information on an age dependent access controlledapplication, service, or communication environment based on an enduser's perception of a set of one or more audio tones. The ageverification unit 432 selects the set of audio tones based on agerequirements associated with the age dependent access controlledinformation and presents the one or more audio tones on an ageverification console. The age verification unit 432 receives the user'sindicated perception of the set of audio tones. Based on the frequencyof audio tones perceived by the user, the age verification unit 432calculates the user's approximate age (or a range of age). The ageverification unit 432 grants or blocks access to the age dependentaccess controlled information depending on whether the user'sapproximate age lies within age requirements associated with the agedependent access controlled information.

The ICH 424 connects and controls peripheral devices. In FIG. 4, the ICH424 is connected to IDE/ATA drives 408 (used to connect external storagedevices) and to universal serial bus (USB) ports 410. The ICH 424 mayalso be connected to a keyboard 412, a selection device 414, firewireports 416, CD-ROM drive 418, a network interface 420, and a graphicscontroller 404. The graphics controller 404 is connected to a displaydevice 406 (e.g., monitor). In some embodiments, the computer system 400can include additional devices and/or more than one of each componentshown in FIG. 4 (e.g., video cards, audio cards, peripheral devices,etc.). For example, in some instances, the computer system 400 mayinclude multiple processors, multiple cores, multiple external CPU's. Inother instances, components may be integrated or subdivided.

FIG. 5 is an example block diagram depicting a system configured forelectronic age verification based on audio tone perception. The system500 comprises a server 508 and clients 502, 504, and 512. The server 508comprises an age verification unit 510 coupled with a tone database 516.The server 508 also hosts an application 518. The clients 502, 504, and512 comprise a web browser 506. Any one of the server 508 and theclients 502, 504, and 512 can be embodied as the computer system 400 ofFIG. 4.

The application 518 comprises age dependent access controlledinformation and the age verification unit 510 controls access to theapplication 518. The age verification unit 510 receives a request toaccess the age dependent access controlled application 518 from the webbrowser 506. The age verification unit 510 selects one or more audiotones from the tone database 516 and presents, on the web browser 506,an audio file comprising the selected audio tones. The web browser 506records indications (e.g., tone identification numbers, time instants,etc.) of the user's perception of one or more of the audio tones andtransmits the recorded indications to the age verification unit 510.Based on the frequency of the audio tones perceived by the user, the ageverification unit 510 estimates the user's approximate age or an agerange (i.e., a set of one or more years of human age) to which the userbelongs. The age verification unit 510 grants access to the agedependent access controlled application 518 if the user's approximateage conforms to age requirements associated with the application 518.

The server 508 and the clients 502, 504, and 512 communicate via acommunication network 514. The communication network 514 can include anytechnology suitable for passing communication between the server 508 andthe clients 502, 504, and 512 (e.g., Ethernet, 802.11n, SONET, etc).Moreover, the communication network 514 can be part of other networks,such as cellular telephone networks, public-switched telephone networks(PSTN), cable television networks, etc. Additionally, the server 508 andthe clients 502, 504, and 512 can be any suitable devices capable ofexecuting software in accordance with the embodiments described herein.The clients 502, 504, and 512 may be any one of a mobile phone, apersonal computer, a landline phone, or other electronic devices capableof presenting information, sending communications, and/or receivingcommunications. Any one or more of a server hosting a web application, agaming server, a virtual world server, etc. may implement ageverification operations. Communication routers (e.g., a mobile phonebase station, a PSTN central office, intermediate network routers, etc.)may also implement the age verification operations.

In some implementations, the client 502, 504, and 512 may comprise theage verification unit 510 to control access to local resources orcontrol communication received from other clients based on pre-definedage requirements. In other implementations, the client 502, 504, and 512may comprise an age verification unit client plug-in to sharecomputational, data transfer, and data processing load with the server508. The age verification unit 510 may be implemented as a chip,plug-in, code in memory, etc.

Embodiments may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, asoftware embodiment (including firmware, resident software, micro-code,etc.) or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects that mayall generally be referred to herein as a “circuit,” “module” or“system.” Furthermore, embodiments of the inventive subject matter maytake the form of a computer program product embodied in any tangiblemedium of expression having computer usable program code embodied in themedium. The described embodiments may be provided as a computer programproduct, or software, that may include a machine-readable medium havingstored thereon instructions, which may be used to program a computersystem (or other electronic device(s)) to perform a process according toembodiments, whether presently described or not, since every conceivablevariation is not enumerated herein. A machine-readable medium includesany mechanism for storing (“machine-readable storage medium”) ortransmitting “machine-readable signal medium”) information in a form(e.g., software, processing application) readable by a machine (e.g., acomputer). The machine-readable storage medium may include, but is notlimited to, magnetic storage medium (e.g., floppy diskette); opticalstorage medium (e.g., CD-ROM); magneto-optical storage medium; read onlymemory (ROM); random access memory (RAM); erasable programmable memory(e.g., EPROM and EEPROM); flash memory; or other types of mediumsuitable for storing electronic instructions. In addition, embodimentsmay be embodied in a machine-readable signal medium, such as anelectrical, optical, acoustical or other form of propagated signal(e.g., carrier waves, infrared signals, digital signals, etc.), orwireline, wireless, or other communications medium.

Computer program code for carrying out operations of the embodiments maybe written in any combination of one or more programming languages,including an object oriented programming language such as Java,Smalltalk, C++ or the like and conventional procedural programminglanguages, such as the “C” programming language or similar programminglanguages. The program code may execute entirely on a user's computer,partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone software package, partlyon the user's computer and partly on a remote computer or entirely onthe remote computer or server. In the latter scenario, the remotecomputer may be connected to the user's computer through any type ofnetwork, including a local area network (LAN), a personal area network(PAN), or a wide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to anexternal computer (for example, through the Internet using an InternetService Provider).

While the embodiments are described with reference to variousimplementations and exploitations, it will be understood that theseembodiments are illustrative and that the scope of the inventive subjectmatter is not limited to them. In general, techniques for frequencybased age determination as described herein may be implemented withfacilities consistent with any hardware system or hardware systems. Manyvariations, modifications, additions, and improvements are possible.

Plural instances may be provided for components, operations, orstructures described herein as a single instance. Finally, boundariesbetween various components, operations, and data stores are somewhatarbitrary, and particular operations are illustrated in the context ofspecific illustrative configurations. Other allocations of functionalityare envisioned and may fall within the scope of the inventive subjectmatter. In general, structures and functionality presented as separatecomponents in the exemplary configurations may be implemented as acombined structure or component. Similarly, structures and functionalitypresented as a single component may be implemented as separatecomponents. These and other variations, modifications, additions, andimprovements may fall within the scope of the inventive subject matter.

1. A method comprising: detecting a request to access an age dependentaccess controlled resource hosted by at least one server, wherein accessto the age dependent access controlled resource is restricted to userswithin a permitted age range; retrieving at least a first audio toneindicated as perceivable by people within a first age range and at leasta second audio tone indicated as perceivable by people within a secondage range, wherein indicated perceivable age ranges of the first audiotone and the second audio tone are mutually exclusive; presenting, on adevice, at least both of the first audio tone and the second audio;determining an estimated age range based on a response that indicateswhich of the first audio tone and the second audio tone could not beperceived in response to said presenting the at least both of the firstaudio tone and the second audio tone on the device, wherein saiddetermining the age range based on the response that indicates which ofthe first audio tone and the second audio tone could not be perceivedcomprises: generating an indication in response to a perception of aperceived audio tone of the first audio tone and the second audio tone;recording tone information associated with the perceived audio tone,wherein the tone information is one or more of an audio toneidentification number, an audio tone frequency, a time instant at whichthe audio tone was perceived, and a reference to the perceived audiotone; and transmitting the tone information associated with theperceived audio tone to the at least one server hosting the agedependent access controlled resource; denying the request to access theage dependent access controlled resource hosted by the at least oneserver based on the estimated age range being outside of the permittedage range.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the age dependent accesscontrolled resource comprises at least one of an online communicationenvironment, a chat room, a message board, a virtual world, a part of avirtual world, an online game, an online social network, a website, anInternet based application, and a phone-based application.
 3. The methodof claim 1, further comprising the at least one server storing, in ablocked user database, identification information associated with thedenied request to access the age dependent access controlled resource,wherein the identification information comprises one or more of anInternet Protocol address associated with the age dependent accesscontrolled resource, a client network address, a client device serialnumber, an identification number associated with a client account toaccess the age dependent access controlled resource, and a number ofconsecutive denied requests to access the age dependent accesscontrolled resource.
 4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:determining that a second request to access the age dependent accesscontrolled resource hosted by the at least one server is denied;determining that a number of consecutive denied requests to access theage dependent access controlled resource exceeds a number of allowableconsecutive denied requests; and closing a client account used to accessthe age dependent access controlled resource.
 5. The method of claim 1,further comprising: detecting a second request to access the agedependent access controlled resource on the at least one server;retrieving at least both of the first audio tone and the second audiotone; presenting, on the device, at least both of the first audio toneand the second audio tone; determining a second estimated age rangebased on receiving a response indicating which of the first audio toneand the second audio tone was perceived in response to said presentingat least both of the first audio tone and the second audio tone on thedevice; comparing the second estimated age range with the permitted agerange associated with the age dependent access controlled resource;determining that the second estimated age range conforms to thepermitted age range; and granting the second request to access the agedependent access controlled resource based, at least in part, on thedetermining that the second estimated age range conforms to thepermitted age range.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein said presenting,on the device, the at least both of the first audio tone and the secondaudio tone comprises presenting the at least both of the first audiotone and the second audio tone in an increasing order of audiofrequency.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein said presenting, on thedevice, the at least both of the first audio tone and the second audiotone comprises presenting the at least both of the first audio tone andthe second audio tone in a varying order of audio frequencies.
 8. One ormore machine-readable storage media having stored therein a programproduct, which when executed by a set of one or more processors causesthe set of one or more processors to perform operations that comprise:detecting a request to access an age dependent access controlledresource hosted by at least one server, wherein access to the agedependent access controlled resource is restricted to users within apermitted age range; retrieving at least a first audio tone indicated asperceivable by people within a first age range and at least a secondaudio tone indicated as perceivable by people within a second age range,wherein indicated perceivable age ranges of the first audio tone and thesecond audio tone are mutually exclusive; presenting at least both ofthe first audio tone and the second audio tone; determining an estimatedage range based on a response that indicates which of the first audiotone and the second audio tone could not be perceived in response topresentation of the at least both of the first audio tone and the secondaudio tone on the device, wherein the operation of determining the agerange based on the response that indicates which of the first audio toneand the second audio tone could not be perceived comprises: generatingan indication in response to a perception of a perceived audio tone ofthe first audio tone and the second audio tone; recording toneinformation associated with the perceived audio tone, wherein the toneinformation is one or more of an audio tone identification number, anaudio tone frequency, a time instant at which the audio tone wasperceived, and a reference to the perceived audio tone; and transmittingthe tone information associated with the perceived audio tone to the atleast one server hosting the age dependent access controlled resource;and denying the request to access the age dependent access controlledresource hosted by the at least one server based on the estimated agerange being outside of the permitted age range.
 9. The one or moremachine-readable storage media of claim 8, wherein the age dependentaccess controlled resource comprises at least one of an onlinecommunication environment, a chat room, a message board, a virtualworld, a part of a virtual world, an online game, an online socialnetwork, a website, an Internet based application, and a phone-basedapplication.
 10. The one or more machine-readable storage media of claim8, wherein the operations further comprise: determining that a secondrequest to access the age dependent access controlled resource hosted bythe at least one server is denied; determining that a number ofconsecutive denied requests to access the age dependent accesscontrolled resource exceeds a number of allowable consecutive deniedrequests; and closing a client account used to access the age dependentaccess controlled resource.
 11. The one or more machine-readable storagemedia of claim 8, wherein the operations further comprise: detecting asecond request to access the age dependent access controlled resource onthe at least one server; retrieving at least both of the first audiotone and the second audio tone; presenting, on the device, at least bothof the first audio tone and the second audio tone; determining a secondestimated age range based on receiving a response indicating which ofthe first audio tone and the second audio tone was perceived in responseto said presenting at least both of the first audio tone and the secondaudio tone on the device; comparing the second estimated age range withthe permitted age range associated with the age dependent accesscontrolled resource; determining that the second estimated age rangeconforms to the permitted age range; and granting the second request toaccess the age dependent access controlled resource based, at least inpart, on the determining that the second estimated age range conforms tothe permitted age range.
 12. An apparatus comprising: a processor; amemory unit coupled with the processor; an age verification unitconfigured to: detect a request to access an age dependent accesscontrolled resource hosted by at least one server, wherein access to theage dependent access controlled resource is restricted to users within apermitted age range; retrieve at least a first audio tone indicated asperceivable by people within a first age range and at least a secondaudio tone indicated as perceivable by people within a second age range,wherein indicated perceivable age ranges of the first audio tone and thesecond audio tone are mutually exclusive; present at least both of thefirst audio tone and the second audio tone; determine an estimated agerange based on a response that indicates which of the first audio toneand the second audio tone could not be perceived in response to the ageverification unit presenting the at least both of the first audio toneand the at least the second audio tone on the device, wherein the ageverification unit being operable to determine the age range based on theresponse that indicates which of the first audio tone and the secondaudio tone could not be perceived comprises the age verification unitbeing operable to, generate an indication of perception of a perceivedaudio tone of the first audio tone and the second audio tone; recordtone information associated with the perceived audio tone, wherein thetone information is one or more of an audio tone identification number,an audio tone frequency, a time instant at which the audio tone wasperceived, and a reference to the perceived audio tone; and transmit thetone information associated with the perceived audio tone to the atleast one server hosting the age dependent access controlled resource;and deny the request to access the age dependent access controlledresource hosted by the at least one server based on the estimated agerange being outside of the permitted age range.
 13. The apparatus ofclaim 12, wherein the age verification unit comprises one or moremachine-readable storage media.